Method of making staples



3 H. D. RANDALL 2,103,176

\ METHOD OF MAKING STAPLES I Filed Sept. 25, 19:55

- 7 INVENTQR. ,fl w 12 Emma, v BY, v v ATTORNEY;

Patented Dec. 21, 1937 2,103,176 ME'rr on'oF MAKING STAPLES Howard D. Randall, Cincinnati, Ohio, assign'or .to The Randall Company, Cincinnati,0hlo,; a

. corporation of Ohio Application Sep ember 25, 1935, Serial Nb. 42,072

3 Claims.

tion'or joint.

Another object of the invention is to provide staples of such character as will readily. assume a tandem relationship in the'process of menufacture, therebyv enabling and facilitating the application thereto of abinder substance which maintains the staples in groupformations, and which group formations will nest so as to reduce packaging costs and the size of packages containing a given number of the staples,

Another object of the invention isto' provide a-novel method of manufacturing staples, which method employs the cheapest form of stock, namely, strip metal, and. the simplest, least expensive and most dependable form of mecha nism, the power press, in'the performance of the method. r a i A further object of the invention is to reduce the cost and increase the speed of staple manufacture by the processing of strip material rather than wire. a

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of one form of mechanism for practicing the new method of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a group of novel staples resulting from the new method of manufacture.

Staples which have been in common usage heretofore were provided with spaced parallel legs, and were maintained in group formation by means of a binder of suitable character, such as compositions including a varnish, or a cellulosic substance. In the packaging of such staple groups or formations, it was necessaryto provide compartments in the packages to separate the groups of staples in order that the package would maintain them in an orderly relationship. Due to the fact that the legs of the staples were parallel, it was not possible to nest .the staple groups or formations, wherefore the packaging problem had to be solved by resorting to partitioned packages which necessitated expense in 65 addition to the cost of the box or container in object, thereby to provide a very; secure connece (01.59-77) .x I which they were packed. By means pf the ipresem, invention, the packaging problemwa's sim'-' plified and the "sizerof the package for a given number of staples was materially reduced, Moreover, the added costof partitions in they package has "been eliminated, resultinglin reduc ingthe shipping weight and the";v storagespace required for a given number ofjstaples, It maybe notedasfa fact thatistaples' to be H 10 applied 'by machine, must ncessarilyj'be ,very' uniform, as the majority of'stapling difliculties are occasioned by nonguniformi'ty lin the length of theQstaplelegs, Staples which'ha'veliereto fore been manufactured from round wire; were note'a'sily rendered uniforr'n'in the cut-off operation because of the complexity of wire handling machinery and the natural wearing of theparts thereof. a As 'is well known, wirelhandlingmachinery is very complicated'in construction, and, requires frequent adjustments] and repairs. Moreover, such machinery is'not as positivefnor as fast as'the type of mechanism used in .practicing themethod hereof.

With reference to the accompanying drawing. the character ii represents a narrow ribbon of strip metal havingits side edges rolledcr other wise formed to provide bevels or, reduced ,por tions l terminating in sharp knifeedges 5 in'the plane-of the lower face 5 of the strip. Thisstrip is-adapted to be fed intermittently over theanvils I and 8 by'the use ofany suitable feed means, for example, power driven rollers sand I0. As the strip material is; intermittently; fed along the anvil I, and for ashort distance onto the anvil 8, the cut-off knife l2 descends 'to'sever a short length from the strip and the forming die part l3 immediately'follows the cutting off operation to make the severeduportion-conform with theupperdie part i'l ef-ani'il 8. It'will be understood that the knife]? and die l3 are operated independently "so (as to' have-relative movement such that advancement of the die l3 continues upon termination of the cut-off operation of knife l2. Upon completion of the forming operation, the parts I! and l3retract from the work and the retractile movement is followed by a slight advance of the strip 3 to a position at which its leading edge overhangs anvil I an amount equal to the desired width of the I staple. Continued operations of the knife and forming ,die, and intermittent feeding of the strip material, results in'the advancement of a succession of finished staples along the length of anvil '8. This anvil may .extend for any desired distance, or it may lead the staples onto a suitstaple are directed inwardly toward the points able guide or carrier (not shown). During advancement of the finished staples in abutting succession, it is desirable to apply thereto a suitable binder for maintaining the staples in tandeni formation, in which formation the staples may be handled and packaged. The mode of applying the 'binder is immaterial to the present invention, there being shown, however, a nozzle I! for spraying onto the succession of staples any suitable'binder such as varnish or cellulosic substance or other suitable composition. It is to be understood that the binder may-be applied by advancing the succession of staples through a bath of binder substance, if desired.

It is to be understood that the cut oil! knife I! and forming die l3 may be incorporated in a single die in accordance with common practice, and that means other than rollers 9 and Ill may be employed for the intermittent advancement of preformed strip 3 toward the die structure.

The representation of Fig. 2 shows a series of finlshed staples l6 joined together in the man.- ner previously explained. It will be noted that the legs i1 and i8. of the staples extend downwardly and diverge outwardly from the head I9.

The bevels or reduced portions 4 and the knife edges 5 originally. provided on the strip.3, furnish the sharpened extremities of the staples, and each and every staple must necessarily have legs of uniform length because the preformed strip from which the staples are made has side edges which are parallel and uniformly spaced. The staple thus formed is adapted especially for inward turning of the legs thereof when driven into a support as the exterior opposed faces of the .legs carry beveled portions which are quite large in area and substantially rectangulanwhereby the planes of the beveled portions present a maximum area such'as will assuredly guide the extremities of the legs inwardly toward one another when the staple is driven.

The staples are furnished to the consumer in the form disclosed by Fig. 2, with the legs of each set of staples nested between the legs of an adjacent set, so that a great number of staples may be included in a small package. The purchaser uses the staples in a stapling machine which bends the, legs into parallelism prior to driving the staple into an object to be clinched offastened. As the beveled portions 4 of each 5 thereof, the staple when driven is obliged to turn its legs inwardly toward one another, thereby to provide a strong and dependable clinch. It will be found that the staples of the present invention may be driven into a board or other support of lesser thickness than the length of the legs I! and I 8, without having the legs penetrate the back of such board or support.

what is claimed is: g

1. The method of staple manufacturewhich comprises the steps of first forming a long strip of material having parallel side edges chamfered to provide opposed sharpened edges, then intermittently feeding said. strip lengthwise to a cutting. andshaping mechanism which cuts of! in succession short lengths of the strip and thereafter bends them'to provide legs and a connecting head with the chamfered portions at the free ends of the legs.

2'. The method of staple manufacture which comprises the steps of first forming a long strip of materialhaving parallel side edges and a face beveled off toward each of said side edges, then intermittently feeding said strip to ,a cut-off means for determining the width of the staple head, subjecting the severed strip portions successively to a forming die which bends the strip to provide staple legs diverging outwardlyfrom the head, and thereafter applying a binding substance to the succession of finished staples to temporarily maintain them in tandem relationship for packing and use.

3. The method of staple manufacture which comprises the step of first forming a long strip of material having parallel side edges and opposed faces, forming narrow bevels on one face only of said strip, each bevel extending to one of said side edges and providing a sharp straight line edge, then intermittently feeding said strip toja cut-off means for determining the width of the staple head, subjecting the severed strip portions successively to a forming diewhich bends the strip to provide staple legs diverging outwardly from the head, with the bevelsdisposed at a substantial distance from the head, and thereafter applying a binding substance ,to the succession of finished staples to temporarily maintain them in tandem relationship for pack ing and use.

HOWARD D. RANDALL. 

